133 



An adult female. Mount Campbell near Fitzroy River, seven 

 miles west of camp. This species has a very wide range. It is 

 found in the Moluccas, Celebes, New Guinea and adjacent islands. 

 Northern and North-Western Australia, Eastern Queensland, and 

 New South Wales, and occurs as a rare straggler in Tasmania. 



[At the approach of the tropical rain in January the Scythrojjs 

 made its appearance in the early morning, always coming from the 

 west and going east. Their loud notes, which they utter when 

 flying, were always noticed by the Crows at our camp, which at 

 once assembled and attacked the intruder. Then a battle royal 

 ensued. Two or more Crows attacked simultaneously, and the 

 sharp snap of their bills might be heard for some distance. When 

 the Channel-bill was chased for about a mile the Crows returned 

 to their quarters. On Mount Campbell a pair of Scythrops fre- 

 quently resorted to a fig-tree to feed. I shot the female on 3rd 

 March, and found the stomach full of figs. The ovaries were 

 well developed, and contained three yolks, varying in size, one 

 being as large as a small cherry, the other two slightly less- 

 Near the Margaret River the natives took two young ones from 

 a Crow's nest near the homestead, which the Scythrops had 

 frequently visited. They are locally know as " Stormbirds." 



No. 13. Centropus phasianus (Pheasant-Coucal). 



Cuculus phasianus. Lath., Ind. Orn., vol. II., Suppl., p. xxx., 

 (1801). 



Centropus phasianus, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., vol. IV., pi. 92 

 (1848); North, Nest and Eggs, Austr. Bds., p. 249 (1889) ; id., 

 Rec. Austr. Mus., vol. II., p. 17 (1892) ; Shelley, Cat. Bds. Brit. 

 Mus., vol. XIX., p. 340 (1891). 



Centropus melanurus, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S.W., vol. 

 L, 2nd series, p. 1,094 (1886). 



Three adult males, two adult females. Camp about five miles 

 from the junction of the Fitzroy and Margaret Rivers. Similar 

 to examples from Eastern Australia. The wings of the males 

 vary in length from 9*8 to 10-25 inches ; those of the females 

 from 10-6 to 11-4. 



[Amongst the long grass near the Fitzroy River these birds 

 were found either singly or in pairs, but after rain six or seven 

 might be seen assembled on a patch of burnt ground. All 

 those shot during January and February had a few brown 

 feathers scattered through the black on the head, neck, and 

 breast, a fact which suggests either that all those shot were 

 changing from the immature to the adult stage, or that they are 

 subject to variations of plumages at diff'erent times of the year. 

 The females were invariably larger than the males, but in other 

 respects the sexes were alike. Occasionally they were found 



